Coronavirus in UAE: Dubai's Emirates steps up aircraft cleaning

Dubai - Since January, the airline has activated its crisis management centre.

Dubai's Emirates Airline has stepped up its aircraft cleaning protocol as part of precautionary measures against Covid-19. And when any case of infection is detected, all cabins of the plane involved shall be disinfected, according to a top official of the firm.
"The safety and health of our customers and employees is taken very seriously and we are continuously liaising with international and local health organisations to ensure we are following the most up-to-date medical guidelines and directives," Adel Al Redha, chief operating officer of Emirates Airline, said in a statement on how the team is handling the impact of the global outbreak.
Since January, the airline has activated its crisis management centre. Medical advice was provided to staff and airport procedures were closely followed, said Al Redha.
But with some countries imposing travel restrictions, the airline also had to adjust its operations- "by either reducing frequencies or cancelling flights to specific destinations", he added.
Up to one month leave for employees
Emirates has now given its employees the option to avail of leave or apply for a voluntary unpaid leave for up to one month at a time, owing to the impact of the virus.
"The knock on effect of these operational changes has resulted in more resources than required in certain areas of the business for our day to day requirements. Considering the availability of additional resources and the fact that many employees want to utilise their leave, we have provided our employees the option to avail leave or apply for voluntary unpaid leave for up to one month at a time," Al Redha said.
The Dubai-based carrier on Monday, March 2, sent an e-mail to its employees, asking them to take paid and unpaid leave as it expects "measurable impact" from Covid-19.
Al Redha said the airline is seeing some slowdown in certain markets but there has been high demand in other areas.
Iata on Monday said passenger traffic has been hit and airlines are facing a challenge in filling seats on certain routes.
waheed@khaleejtimes.com